


bury them side by side

by schweet_heart



Series: Merlin Fic [17]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Established Relationship, M/M, Minor Character Death, On the Run, Violence, remix eligible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 04:15:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schweet_heart/pseuds/schweet_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People do stupid things when they love one another. Merlin knows this better than most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bury them side by side

 

 

People do stupid shit when they love each other.

 

Merlin tells himself this at least ten times a day, usually when they’re running from the cops in a hail of bullets, and maybe it’s not exactly a stellar excuse but sometimes it’s all he’s got. And he _does_ love Arthur. Probably too much, truth be told.

 

“Why don’t you just leave?” Arthur asks him once, his face pale from blood-loss and his eyes fixed on Merlin’s hands where he’s doing up the bandage. “You have magic. You could go anywhere. Why not just let them take me? I’m only slowing you down.”

 

Merlin finishes wrapping the bandage around Arthur’s arm and sticks the end down carefully with a couple of pieces of tape. His hands are still shaking a little from the adrenaline, and they’re covered in blood almost to the wrist. Arthur’s blood. A few inches to the left and this would have all been over.

 

“Don’t be stupid,” he says, laying his hand flat and gentle over the wound. “We’re on the same side.”

 

“For now,” Arthur says. He looks up at Merlin. “You know who I am. You know I’m my father’s son. Why do you trust me?”

 

“You’re not your father.”

 

“I might as well be.” Arthur’s voice is bitter. “After all I’ve done—“

 

Merlin shushes him with a finger against his lips and leans in, nudging Arthur’s forehead with his own, sliding his palm against Arthur’s cheek and pressing their mouths together. “Hush,” he murmurs, between kisses. “You’re not him. Arthur. You’re not him.”

 

Arthur subsides, allowing Merlin to push him back against the thin motel mattress and fuck him into silence, slow and demanding and vividly real. He falls asleep almost immediately afterwards, his hair rumpled, body splayed out like some kind of obscene painting with his jeans around his ankles and his socks still on. Merlin remains awake, leaning on one elbow and tracing the outline of him with his fingers. 

 

“I love you,” he whispers, too quietly for anyone to hear but himself. “There’s more to you than this, and someday you’re going to see it. I promise.”

 

And then the next day, it’s back to the grindstone, robbing the distribution centres and barely escaping with their lives. The poor people they give most of the rations to are grateful, so at least there’s that — the magical prisoners they liberate are usually too grim to do more than nod, but those who are sufficiently aware to note the change in their surroundings are usually happy enough. There was one girl, Freya, who had screamed and fought them so violently that they had been unable to save her; she’d been caught in the guards’ cross-fire when they were alerted to the escape, and died with a growl of animal frustration on her lips. But cases like that are mercifully few. 

 

So love is Merlin’s excuse, but it’s not his reason. His reason is the way Arthur smiles at him in the morning automatically, his face flushed and lazy, before he remembers who they are and what they do now. His reason is the way Arthur’s mouth feels around his cock and the way he shudders when he comes and the determination in his face before every mission. Even after all this time, he’s not quite sure what Arthur’s true objective is, why he’s scouring the country one prison at a time, or what will happen to Merlin once he finds whoever it is he’s looking for, but for now they’re together, and that’s all that really matters. 

 

He doesn’t know what he’s going to do when all of it comes to an end.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [they’ll remember we were here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14797001) by [enkiduu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enkiduu/pseuds/enkiduu)




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